Heddle bar hanger



April 14, 1953 P. c. CONSOLETTI HEDDLE BAR HANGER Filed Oct. 27, 1951 INVENTOR. PAUL C. CONSOLETTI Patented Apr. 14, 1953 HEDDLE BAR HANGER Paul C. Consoletti, Milford, Mass., assignor to Draper Corporation, Hopedale, Mass., a corporation of Maine Application October 27 1951, Serial No. 253,512

This invention pertains to improvements in harness frames for looms, and more specifically, improvements relating to that type of harness frame in which the heddle bars are suspended upon hangers which in turn are slidable upon and are mounted for support upon auxiliary supporting rods which are carried by the harness frame rails.

It is a general object of the invention to improve harness mechanisms so that the hangers upon which the heddle bars are suspended may be so devised as to be snapped into or from position without disturbing either the heddles, the bars upon which they are carried, or the auxiliary supporting rods from which the hangers depend, and along which they are slidable as is required for assembly and for slight movement of heddles along the frames incidental to the weaving function.

Itis a more specific object of the invention to devise heddle bar hangers which may quickly be snapped into or from position on the auxiliary supporting rods and which shall at the same time be extremely simple in construction, economically manufactured and which shall also be rugged in construction and certain in operation so that they may serve for an extended period of time without attention or likelihood of failure in performing their intended function. .In more commonly used types of harness frames, the general frame structure which includes top and bottom rails either made from wood or from some other material such as one of i the lighter alloy metals, and end struts is supplemented by a pair of heddle bars which may be removed from the frame after releasing the ends thereof, and upon which the numerous heddles are threaded and supported. These heddles are free to move along the length of the frame, at least for a limited extent. Of course, the heddles may be removed or others added by releasing one end of the bars and sliding them to a position where the heddles may be removed from or threaded onto the bars. These bars are normally suspended or have additional support along their length as well as at the ends, which intermediate support is afforded by certain hangers, sometimes called slide hooks, these having taken various conformations and in some instances being carried upon and slidable along what are generally known as auxiliary supporting rods which in turn are carried by the top and bottom rails, one for each rail, It is most frequently the practice to have these rods movable lengthwise immanent l ffiaded elements which are 9 Claims. 7 (Cl. 139-92) fastened into the wood or other material from which the rails have been made.

In all of the constructions which have been put into practical usage, the method of assembly of the bar hangers as well as of the heddles themselves has involved threading the same onto the supplemental supporting rods although the bars themselves are carried within open ended slots or notches. As a consequence, the removal of a hanger or repositioning thereof has necessitated drawing the auxiliary supporting rods endwise until the particular hanger or hangers the position of which is to be altered have been released. Naturally this involves considerabie time and eifort, and in so doing, the likelihood that v the heddle bars and heddles. themselves may get j out of control becomes fairly great. That is more probable if the heddles themselves are of the type to be hooked over the bars rather than threaded along the length thereof.

Accordingly, the improved hanger herein described and claimed is adapted to be snapped into and from position on the auxiliary supporting rod without disturbing any of the other parts and Without any likelihood of mispositioning or unintended release of the heddles or other elements which are involved. While the prior art shows some hangers which may be assembled or removed while the other parts are in place, no

one of them has, so far as applicant is aware, been introduced into commercial practice. According to the instant invention, hangers are formed by bending and hardening strip steel or other appropriate material, and comprise wing members having slotted, bent ends which engage the rods on which they are mounted and a more or. less centrally disposed extension at right angles to the direction of movement of the j hanger along the rod, this latter part being bent at its free end for the'reception of and for supporting or sustaining the bar upon which the heddles are threaded. The locking of the hangers in position is'aceomplished by one or more flexible, but sutficiently resilient or resistant latching members which underlie or normally extend f across the pathway of movement of the rod' relatively to the hanger if the parts are to be disassembled. It is suflicient for the person assembling a hanger or-hangers on the rods in a frame to press these spring-like latching members which more preferably take the form of laterally or oppositely directed fingers bent into the desired shape to serve their intended purpose as will hereinafter be described in greater detail soas to press them to. a position in which 1 they do not interfere with the assembly or disassembly of a hanger on the rod, this being accomplished in some instances with a suitable tool, or in other instances merely by bending the parts with the fingers. As will be apparent from the following more detailed description, the use of these hangers permits the snapping of the parts into, place. very quickly thereby making possible attachment or detachment of hangers. and freeing of the heddle bars as is desired without resort to the troublesome and time-consume ing removal of the auxiliary supporting rods as is now necessary with those hangers in commer cial use. The hangers as herein deseribled and claimed are relatively simple. require few bending operations, and are not more expensive than any others of the usual type employed and which are normally assembled by threading along the supporting rods.

The invention will be described by reference to he .ac qmpa ng figur s. of drawin wher n: F 1 is an elsvaticnalyisw. s owin a harness frame to whi h. the invention hasbeen applied. Figure 2 is an isometric View illustrating the manner in which a hanger constructed in accordance with the invention is employed.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but, showing a modified form of latching means.

Fig. 4, is another view similar to Fig. 2,, but

showing still another modification.

Fig. is a detail view of a modified form of a part of the hanger.

Now' referrin to 1;, the. harness. frame is comprised of a top ail ID, abottom rail I l, and endstruts l2 and I3. These are attached in such a manner as. to provide. the usual rigid framework Within which is carried a plurality of heddles M which may take any of the well khownforms common to these parts. As illustrated in Fig. 2, one type of heddle which may beernployed has eyes or loops at either end which are. adapted to be'threadedonto the heddle bars I5 andflfi, one at the top and the other at the lower part. of the frame. These bars pass hr h h nd s uts l an an Pr ect e ond to s shq extent a in in that PI i hh f. P t o l h harsh QPshihs r d lled l With w ch ch eses i heshsd Qr lat hin n sf a Wire at m mber: t e n -she fY h s eath n s ssshs the barshe e e an supp rted at the end are. s ace so h t the hcs dlss .m lide. al ne. hem. but he -mus hee seril e upp rted-int rmedia e ei nds at several points and is; t at pu p se.

he hed le he han er general y. i dica ed by umer l I? are s e e iallecrsv ar n s sp nded main. and ottom. xi ia y.

hhh h 1? 9 n 3: hich are h eaded h h e e r i gs a th d oi sh r threaded members such as screw eyes 2|. There are several of these for each of the rods and they are suitably spaced so to support he in a relatively r gid msh er- In sse bl ar s te ed at h s ehhsst c w e e and ,is'm s a one. h le gt o th frame a being guided into each of the remaining eyes in h h u til sash c dc he 'QdtiS nfined Wi hin the rssiahe hr' nn pac d fined by. the. outer.

h eiur o th rame a tcrwhicn it. cannot be remoyed except. by. forcefully; bending one. of. its

endsto clear. the end strutand then drawing itv outwardly.

The hanger iepreferably formed from: a resilient. material such as spring steel and is bent over suitable forms-toassume a. desired shape;

Strictly speaking, only the latching means need be resilient, but it is more convenient to punch these parts out of sheet stock of the desired physical characteristics. Each hanger comprises what may be termed oppositely directed wing members 22 and 23 intermediate the ends of which, and preferably substantially at the'center, there extends. :at right angles: bail .fihdpending portion .24. which bentat its gfreeend to form a hook 25 within which is held the heddle bar i5 or It as the case may be. The ends of the wing portions 22 and 23 are bent as at 26 and 21 and areslotted as at 28 and 29 thereby to form iorlged or bi;furcate.d,-ends which embrace the particular auxiliary supporting rod l9 or 20 as the casemay' bathe parts as described to this point being, to all intents and purposes, of relatively rigid construction and not necessarily adaptedto, be flexed or distorted in any manner incidental to their assembly or disassembly to and from therod l9 and bar 1.5.

order .to maintain. th parts. ,p sitionn it is necessary to assure. that. the bentiends f. the wing members. shall not. become detached. from the rod and for that. purpose, a, 1atch.mem..-. her or members .of suitable nature tofixlihnd-acrosa or .to block off the pathway which. the d is} must necessarily take if it is to be rele .d iron; the slots or notches. 2-8 andZQis prav. ed. Qne specific. form of latch which, may be. emploged, comprisesthe oppositely directed. flexible. fingers 3B and 31 which are. bent. SI ON IL in. thereby to extend at. the. opposite sidelof. the rod. from that. at. which the-wing; members; 22 and. 23. are disposed and to cross. thepathway of the. red, as described. These: wing; members. ar 1e fc h l fi i to e en as illust at s h s h i cosition so: s is. rm di assembly of the hanger from themed; by ing it unt l t e nd nd .21 eirc d th relh- The e ng 0f the a hi g fin eron fin s m y e cc m li hed-by p essin thereon. h a a e blu t. inst ument. r. in. som i st n e operator maymcrel u e; his fin ersto b h e parts as-isnecessa x .101 cfiecting-z. e des ed detachment... Whi e. it is-prefcrabie:

Once the. parts. have. been.v assembled... the hanger; may slide. freely; along. thelength. of. both.

the. rod. and the. her: since. the slots. 2& and: 29 embrace. the rod loosely, and also the. latchingfingers. .30. andv 31 permit a. reasonable. amount of play.

In order to facilitate bending. of the material into the desirediorm. and tomakeit unnecessary: to have .a relatively. sharp. hand between the wing portionsv 22. and: 23 and the extending part 21, the material adjacent the juncture of the wings and extension. 24' is cut away as at 32- and- 33. this being. an. expedientwell known to those con-- versant with the art, of forming such-pants fromsheet material. a

The free slidability lengthwise makes-it' possible for theheddles to assume their" natural" position incidental to the weaving function and; as a matter of fact, after repairing'a warpthread" at which time heddles are moved endwise" and" the adjacent hanger orhangers also move't'o' an extent, the parts willalways return-totheirnatural position just as soon as the loom is started and the harness mechanism moves the harness frame through one or more of its cycles.

Now referring to Fig. 3, instead of laterally extending fingers 30 and 3|, a single latching member 34 may be struck from the suspending, hooked member 24 and this, being suitably resilient, may be pressed inwardly to permit attaching or detaching of the hanger.

Obviously the spring steel fingers 30 and-3i or that at 34 may be separately formed and attached. The latch 34 is so bent at its end adjacent the rod that a suitable, flat retaining surface is presented to assure its locking function.

According to a modification, Fig. 5, the hooked end 25 may be supplemented by an insert 25 which may be of metallic or non-metallic ma-- terial, and which serves as a wear-resistant element and which may also facilitate the slidability of the parts in normal usage. Preferably this insert is of a very hard, wear-resistant metal which functions well with steel, of some tough wear-resistant material or may be of some one of the well known plastics, for example, vulcanized fibre, nylon or one of the plastic laminates. The insert may be held in place by a pin or by indenting in some way.

It is obvious that the direction of pull upon the members at the lower side of the frame is opposite to that at the top, however, the principles of operation and mode of assembly are precisely the same, and in the specification and claims, any statement or terminology with reference to the bar being suspended from the auxiliary supporting rod is to be interpreted broadly enough to include the reversal of direction of forces at the lower as compared to those at the upper part of the frame. It is evident that the assembly of the hangers may be accomplished by hooking them toward the front or toward the back. There is no reason why, if desired, the wing members 22 and 23 may not extend in one direction and the hooked end 25 in the opposite, although that is not a preferred construction.

The latching finger or fingers may be varied, for example, the bar suspending member may be positioned nearer one end rather than centrally, and a single finger may then serve. In Fig. 4 such a hanger is shown and it comprises a wing member 35, hooked, slotted end 36 and an extension 3'! having a hooked end 38 for sustaining the bar 15 as in forms above described. Instead of a second wing oppositely directed to wing 35 only a short extension or stub 39 is employed. A retaining lug 4D is bent forwardly from member 31 and serves to limit movement of the unit upwardly or from rod I9 as viewed in this figure. The hanger is removably latched in position by latching finger 4 l To remove the hanger one presses the finger out of line with the rod so the hooked end may be lifted from the rod after which the entire hanger is moved back out of engagement with it. If desired, a latch similar to latch 34, Fig. 3, may be substituted. It may be formed as a part of the extending member 3! or separately and riveted thereto. In that event it is not necessary to utilize the lug 40, but the stub end 39 may be bent and slotted as is the wing end 36.

While the material from which the hangers are to be made is preferably a good quality of strip steel which may be hardened so as to resist wear, it is to be understood that any satisfactory material may be employed so long as it has sufficient strength, hardness to resist. wear, anda reasonable possibility of forming the latching" fingers so that they maybe flexed without toogreat difiiculty, but will still have suflicient tendency to maintain their normal position as and for:- the purpose above described. The material itself i may be of a rust-resistant nature, or may be subjected to any of the processes adapted to render it resistant to corrosion.

While one preferred embodiment 'and certain I modifications have been disclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive concept may be carried out in a number of ways. The invention is, therefore, not to be limited to theprecise details described, but is intended to embrace all-.- variations and modifications thereof fallingwith f in the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.

I claim:

members disposed along and adapted to engage the said rods and a centrally disposed bar suspending portion at right angles to the wing mem-- bers, said bar suspending portion having a hooked end for engagement of the bar,said wing members having bent ends and slots therein for em bracing the rod, and means for releasably retaining the said slotted ends in engagement with the rod and permitting ready assembly of the hanger thereon which comprises laterally directed, flexible fingers bent so as normally to extend across the rod after the hanger has been assembled thereon. l 2. For a loom harness frame of the type having heddle bars upon which the heddles are slidably mounted and auxiliary supporting rods from which said heddle bars are suspended, an im-'-' proved heddle bar hanger which comprises wing members disposed along and adapted to engage the said rods and a bar suspending portion positioned intermediate the ends of said wing members and extending at right angles thereto to terminate in a hooked end for receiving and sustaining said bar, the free end of each said wing member being slotted and. bent in a direction such that it embraces the rod, and means for releasably retaining the said slotted ends in engagement with the rod and permitting ready assembly of the hanger thereon which comprises at least one latch member normally positioned across the path of the rod as it enters or is removed from the slots in said wing members, said latch member further being laterally displaceable to a position in which it is not disposed across the said path of the rod.

3. For a loom harness frame of the type having heddle bars upon which the heddles are slidably mounted and auxiliary supporting rods from which said heddle bars are suspended, an improved heddle bar hanger which comprises wing members disposed along and adapted to engage the said rods and a bar suspending portion positioned intermediate the ends of said wing members and extending at right angles thereto to terminate in a hooked end for receiving and sustaining said bar, the free end of each said wing member being slotted and bent in a direction such that it embraces the rod, and means for releasably retaining the said slotted ends in engagement with the rod and permitting ready assembly of the hanger thereon which comprises nastiness 7.. at least onememheradapteditothe flexed laterally out ofithe pathwaysofitherrod;butnormally main.- tainecmay om resilience across! the pathway; the saidrodmust takev it removed from eneasement Within; the slotted: ends of .thewin members;

4 For arloom harnessframe ofrt'he type hav ing heddle: bars upon which the :hddles are slid ably mounted and auxiliary'supporting rods :from whichzsaict. heddle barsare. suspended, an improved: heddie bar." hangerrwhieh. .comprises- Win members disposed along and adapted to. engage thezsaidrodsianda.barsuspending portion positionedintermediate the ends: of said wing; mem bers extending .at right angles thereto tov terminateimaho'oked; for. receiving and sustainingsaidrjbamtherfree endiofi eachcsaid wing; member being slotted and bent in a direction such? that it embraces the rod, and means for releasabiy' retaining the-said slotted; ends in: engagement, with; the .I'Dfi': and? permitting ready assembl-iror? the-hanger thereon'whichcomprises oppositeiy directedrmembers normally disposed across the pathwiay of: the: said rodzasait. is removed .from en agement-within the slotted ends of the wing: members, said oppositely directed: members furtherbeinggresiiient therebyto be. flexed to a positionzto releasesaidrodr 5;, heddle bar hanger as defined in. claim 4; wherein said hooked. bar receiving end. is; providedwith:a weareresistantinsert.

'6. Aiheddle. bar hanger asdefmed in claim 4- wherein rsaid hooked,. bar receiving. end is provid ed. with a. weareresis-tant insert of non-metallic materiaL.

A heddle. bar hanger defined in claimv 41 wherein said hooked bar receivin end is provided with a. Wear-resistant insert of. fibrous material.

8; For a; 100m harness: frame: of the type havingrheddlebars upon'which thei heddles are slidably 'mounted and auxiliary'supporting rods from which said heddle bars are suspended; an improved: heddie bar hanger which comprises ,oppositely directsclzwingnrienribersi disposedia-long and adapted to engage the saidrods andracentrally disposed-bar suspending portions-positioned inter- V mediate the ends of said. wing. members and ex 92 Forra loom harness frame having; he'cldlebars; uporr which the' hedrlles are siidazbly-mount-- ed and auxiliary supporting rods from: which: saidheddle bars are suspended; aniimproved hedclle bar. hanger which: comprises arod engaging: portion for: hearing on and embracing. the sides of the rod; a bar .suspendingrnember' extending atv right angles from said rod: engaging portion and having a: hooked end withinvwhich' the'bar' is retained, and. a. spring latchzengageable at the opposite: side of. the rod. from that at which: the said rod engaging portion is disposed: movable to and from positions. in one of which it retains the hangerton the rod an-din the otherof which"- it permits its. removal therefrom.

PAUL C. GONSOLETTI'.

References. Cited the file: of this patent- UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Namev Date 2,206,844: Kaufmann July 2,, 1940' 2,252,183 Kaufmann Aug. 12, 1941 2,584,585 Hollingsworth Feb. 5, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country; Date 271,892 Switzerland Feb. 16; 1951 

